To Duel With Fate
by Mihkail
Summary: Sequel to An Unlikely Seduction. She had merely sought forgiveness, and was instead swept into a turmoil of passion that threatened to change everything she thought she knew and felt within her heart. A turmoil she thought she had escaped. But when an unexpected tragedy knocks on her door, it reignites everything Sakura had tried to shield herself from. NonMass. (CHECK PROFILE)
1. They say a hero will save us

_**A/N:** Welcome to the sequel to An Unlikely Seduction...the story that was meant to be a one-shot, and never gain a sequel in the first place. Buuuuut...oops. I started one. If you have not read An Unlikely Seduction, and you do not enjoy being confused, I would recommend you go read it before beginning this one. It's up to you, though._

_**Warning:** This fic will contain graphic content. There isn't much to worry about yet, but eventually there will be strong sexual material, and possibly violence, gore, and naughty language. As for this particular chapter, it's just a wee bit sad and dramatic, but hopefully it's not overwhelming...in a bad way. I hope you find it to be an enjoyable read._

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He couldn't remember the last time it was this difficult to breathe. Every inhale took a little more effort than the last, and with less payoff. The blood rising in his throat was a metallic trickle at first, nothing he wasn't used to. But with the ever increasing pain and shortness of breath, he found it accumulating until he had to stifle a cough. He couldn't cough. He couldn't make a sound. With the shouts, crashes, and booms all around him, it probably didn't matter, but he wouldn't risk it. He couldn't attract attention to himself.

The shattered ribs cut into his lungs as he covered his mouth with an aching hand, smudged with dirt and blood—both fresh and dried. Dark rivulets seeped through his fingers as his body shook. It took every ounce of his control to stay silent, and his good eye closed as the sharp bursts of hidden razors danced through his chest, beneath the flak jacket. A chunk of white porcelain with a streak of red lay on the forest floor below the thick branch he was slouched on, with his back against the trunk. A little more than half of the mask was left on his face, showing like a beacon in the dark forest, with the soft flicker of moonlight peaking through the leaves above. As useless as it was now, revealing one swollen, shut eye and the side of his bloody face caked with strands of tangled black hair, he didn't bother to discard it.

This was the first time his ANBU mask had been broken. Also the first time he found himself unable to rise to his feet, even with the defeating sounds of death and destruction all around him, creeping in closer by the second. But he wasn't alone in the chaos. There had been four of them, originally. He had already watched one of his teammates disappear in a flash of blue light. It always looked like flames, to him. Beautiful, glimmering flames that ignited silently in the darkness and withered swiftly back into oblivion, stealing away any trace of body and soul with it's dying light.

He'd seen it happen a couple times before. It was the ultimate, and expected sacrifice of every ANBU, should they be in danger of capture. A quick and anticlimactic death, to protect any information from leaking to enemy hands. A lonely suicide. Sometimes there wasn't even the chance to think...to reflect... One moment you were there, and the next, nothing. No body to be buried. No goodbyes to deliver. You simply ceased to exist.

The thought had never crossed his mind, until now. Death was everywhere. He'd taken enough lives, and seen so many others fallen, that he'd developed a healthy—or unhealthy?—immunity to its affect. Enough that he rarely even thought about his own, inevitable end. With the way he saw it, there was no time to think about death. Everyone was hurdling towards their own grave, some faster than others, and there was no sense worrying over when that time would come. It wouldn't change anything he did, or anything he believed in. His sole purpose was to serve as a tool for Konoha, and to protect his family and friends, just like every other member of ANBU...and every other shinobi in his village, for that matter.

It's always different once you can hear the footsteps of Death's approach, however.. No one truly knows if they're prepared to leave this world, until they can see, smell, taste their own demise creeping into them... It happened so fast, little to no transition. But didn't it always? He could taste his now. The blood in his throat was close to choking him. Unlike some of the others, he had been given a little time to think...to reflect...and with the opportunity, he also felt every step of Death wandering closer and closer, keeping in time with the labored beat of his overworked heart. His back was ruined, too. He could still feel his legs, so he wasn't paralyzed, but the agony that pulsed through him, blinding all of his senses and locking him immobile every time he tried to move, sealed his fate.

The aching tension in his fatigued muscles was gradually ebbing away as he grew tired and weaker. Slowly giving in as he heard the shouted orders of the enemy drawing close to him. They didn't know where he was. Not yet...but they would soon. With his chakra a mere flickering flame, struggling for life, he was not capable of much more.

To be honest, he wasn't surprised that this was how his life would end. Few shinobi lived long enough to show the wrinkles of age, as most died in battle. He was a little shocked at just how soon, how abruptly it was going to end, though.

A flash of blue caught his attention suddenly, and he glanced to the side just in time to see his second teammate consumed in a fiery cocoon of chakra. The waning light illuminated the darkness, casting a haunting glow on the leaves and trees around him as he quickly, and quite literally, disappeared into thin air.

They were finished. All of them. The mission had gone terribly wrong. They had known from the start it was going to be a difficult one, even for a group as talented as theirs...but they had failed. Yet, failing their Hokage wasn't what bothered him now, as the reality hit home.

Itachi smiled faintly, and his half-lidded eye shifted down to his lap. His hand slid up his flak jacket, and raided a small pocket to pull out a piece of flimsy cloth. He folded the dark blue fabric the way it was meant to be, shaping it into a long, rectangular bandana. Tying it a bit clumsily around his wrist, his smiled faded into nothing as he stared down at the Uchiha crest facing up at him. It was a little awkward and misshapen, having been drawn on by hand with red and white paint. The first thing Sasuke had ever given him, when he was barely old enough to throw a shuriken. He kept the bandana on him at all times because, for obvious reasons, he couldn't keep a picture. Anything that could identify his person was forbidden.

A quiet sigh puffed through his nose, which instantly sent his chest convulsing in a coughing fit that he was unable to suppress. Droplets of blood splattered on the branch in front of him and on his legs as he fought to control his lungs. Bringing his hand to his mouth again, he squinted his eye shut and grew still, willing his reluctant muscles to relax.

The shouts started again, much closer this time. If it had been daylight, he would have been able to see them through the trees now, and he knew his time had finally run out. He looked down at the bandana, the first sign of regret stirring in his gut. There was no alternative. Capture was never, under any circumstances, an option. But that didn't make surrendering to his less than grand finale any less painful.

"Forgive me, Sasuke..."

Whisper fading into the night, his hands lifted and aligned with his center, beginning the simple hand sign that would bring an end to the world he knew, and snuff him into darkness. There would be no tears, but the regret that had bubbled inside him exploded in a sudden wave of sorrow, causing him to cringe visibly as his brows furrowed and his head lowered.

A rustle from above caught his ears, followed by the soft snapping of twigs and a gust of wind. It was now or never. But a blinding pain racked through him suddenly, breaking his concentration as a shadow dropped down and crashed into him, jarring his injured spine back to life. A steel grip pulled his hands apart, disrupting the jutsu and stunning him with the white hot ripples that shredded his nerves throughout his torso. Teeth gritting, he seethed a gurgling breath from his lungs, just as a familiar voice reached out to him. A voice that struck him in awe.

"Itachi... Not today."

He opened his eye to gaze at the blurry visage of the twin Sharingan peering through an ANBU mask, crouching over him. The pain was worth it, once that weary, and slightly panicked voice graced his ears. The short black hair of his best friend, and trusted teammate, clung in sweat and blood-drenched ribbons to the cool porcelain. Before Itachi could find the right words, lost in a rush of shock and relief that swelled within him, Shisui turned his back and hunched over, drawing the body of his broken and battered friend over top of him by his arms.

Itachi knew better than to protest...but there was considerable reason for concern. There were only two of them now, and he could already tell that the man slinging his near dead weight onto himself like a turtle shell was not much better off than he was.

The wood beneath them creaked as his feet dug in, hips adjusting his stance and one hand gripping an arm that draped down his chest. With a pained grunt, Shisui sprang out of the tree and into the next, taking flight at a speed and an agility that he had managed to scrounge up from his deepest reservoirs. Carrying another human being was a difficult load over a long distance by itself, but with his energy depleted to dangerously low levels, the weight of Itachi might as well have been the weight of Konoha itself. Still...he bounded from one branch to the next, ignoring the searing heat that coursed through his legs.

For Itachi, every jolt and bump was sheer torture. Every ounce of strength he possessed fell to clinging onto his friend's back as the pain throbbed from seemingly everywhere at once, over and over again.

"They can't catch you." A weak whisper puffed past the other man's ear. It was a simple enough warning, but they both knew there was a heavier implication hiding in plain sight. He was going to weigh him down...literally...and then they would both be dead.

"They won't." His partner insisted tersely, and somehow found the muscle to move faster as voices bantered and called through the trees around them. He wasn't going to let him go so easily. So long as there was even a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, he would reach for it endlessly. He would never, ever, leave his best friend to die, so long as there was a breath left in his lungs.

There was no further argument as Itachi shook, crimson continuing to seep from his lips and bead into the shoulder below him, though he had stopped coughing. He found the sounds of their world fading away, overpowered by the agony he was forced to endure, with no hope of escaping. It only took a few more minutes of it to steal him into unconsciousness. His grip on Shisui disappeared entirely, nearly causing him to falter and plummet them both to the forest floor as his weight shifted and almost slipped right off.

Shisui hissed in frustration as he scrambled to maintain balance and snatch him into a better position, knowing there was nothing he could do but keep moving. Never stop, never slow down, and never look back. His entire focus was on fleeing back to Konoha and straight to the hospital, even if it meant instantly collapsing in the lobby from a heart attack once he arrived...which wouldn't surprise him at this point.

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The clock ticked to 12:06 am. Soft murmurs and an occasional muffled, lighthearted laughter echoed sparsely through the clean, and remarkably empty halls. Though there were more vacant rooms than usual, nothing was out of the ordinary as the night staff roamed around especially quietly. Trying not to disturb the few sleeping patients as they made their rounds. That was, until the lobby doors burst open, earning a couple startled yelps as an ANBU shot in and literally crashed to the floor before the front desk, with another body strapped to his back.

The moment the bright lights of the hospital touched down on them, Shisui's legs gave out. His breathing filled the room with sickening sounds of deep, greedy rasps, as if no matter how far his lungs stretched, he couldn't get enough air. It was alarming enough, without gazing upon the blood and debris that littered them both, and the receptionist immediately flew from her chair and yelled down the hall for the nearest medic.

Senseless syllables moaned from deep within his throat, as if he forgot how to speak, and when he couldn't get the words out, he lurched toward the hallway. Feet tripping no sooner than they had risen, he fell once more to the floor in a pitiful heap, the limp weight of Itachi smashing into him as he sprawled out, defeated.

The hurried pattering of footsteps rumbled in their direction as every staff member within earshot that wasn't currently occupied with something important dashed in a near sprint past door after door. His eyes peaked up through his mask, watching them move in what seemed like slow motion. Everything became sluggish, as if time itself was dying, and leaving them to hover in an endless limbo. It could have been the adrenaline, or merely his exhausted state of mind, but all it did was heighten his panic. They were too far away. They were too slow. They would never reach them before it was too late.

And yet, a couple short seconds later, his vision was flooded with feet and legs shifting all around him, and the crushing weight soon rose off his back. Shisui sucked in air as if he'd finally risen from the darkest depths of the ocean, and burst through the surface. A complete weightlessness came with it, and he instantly felt as if he was floating upward and past the very ceiling, though the sight of the floor never left his blurring vision. In the distance, he could hear frantic voices calling around him, ordering for another stretcher to be wheeled over.

"He's not breathing!"

"I can't find a pulse!"

"We need another IV over here!"

The medics scrambled around him, and he faintly heard the heavy thump of Itachi's lifeless form falling onto a stretcher before it swished past him and back down the hall it had come from. Two of the voices trailed along with it, leaving Shisui to stare helplessly at the wheels carrying away the body that had grown too pale and too cold in the time it had taken him to race back to the village. He had traveled as fast as he could...he really had... Itachi had merely fallen unconscious at first, which hadn't surprised him. But he had sensed a change just before he reached the main gates. There had been no physical signs. Just a simple, yet powerful feeling, that something had gone dreadfully wrong. Now, his worst fear had been confirmed.

His world turned upside down as the remaining medic flipped him onto his back, and he stared up into the blinding lights of the lobby like a zombie. He was being questioned...but he could no longer understand the words that met his ears. There were hands on him, but he couldn't keep track of where they moved, or what their intent was. The assaulting lights above were growing dimmer, drifting slowly down a tunnel that he was spiraling backwards into. Floating down, down, farther and deeper, until all that remained was a pinpoint in a sea of black...and then nothing.

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_**A/N:** This chapter was shorter than I am used to posting, but I hadn't planned on starting it this way originally. It's meant to be sort of a prologue...without a time shift. Or something. Yeah. Anyway, I appreciate any comments and constructive criticism you would grace me with._


	2. I'm not gonna stand here and wait

**_A/N: _**_I managed to crank this chapter out pretty fast. I only hope I didn't skimp on quality because of it. I'm sure you'll let me know if I did...right? _

_**Somebody Lost**, I have no idea how many chapters this fic will end up being. 20 would be pretty awesome, but I have a feeling that's a bit more ambitious than I can handle right now._

_**Awsaya**, please don't apologize for your lengthy reviews. They make me happier than you could know, and I always look forward to them. Seriously, they're so thoughtful. Thank you._

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12:08 am. Not bad, for once. She was managing to leave the hospital when her shift actually ended. Not thirty minutes later, not an hour later, but right when she was scheduled to...approximately. Medications had been administered on time, patients had been exceptionally cooperative, and she had finished all of her work with ease, and turned in her reports. Nights like this were few and far between for Sakura. Even so, it had still been a long day, and she was more than ready for it to be over. Twelve-hour shifts were hard on anyone, even with comfortable shoes...but it was worth it. Occasionally, her mother would scold her for putting so much time in at the hospital, and not getting enough sleep before she'd have to be up again for training, but her pleads to slow down went ignored.

She wanted to be the best medic Konoha had to offer. She had to be. Not for herself, but for the village. Sakura craved for the day when she would be the one her current superiors ran to whenever there was an emergency, and they needed help or guidance. She wanted to save lives, develop new cures, and invent new time-saving techniques.

Ah...who was she kidding. She was doing this for herself just as much as her village. With Naruto bursting at the seams with the unsurpassable chakra of Kurama, and now beginning to dabble in senjutsu, and Sasuke constantly kicking ass and taking names with a fully matured Sharingan she had given up hope trying to keep up with...Sakura was battling not just with a sense of deflation, but downright uselessness within their shadows sometimes. If she could ever hope to match them, there would have to be many more long days and nights ahead.

Consequently, that meant paying less attention to vanity, frequently scavenging for a quick meal only when she could no longer tolerate the pangs of a hungry gut, and right now, falling behind in her laundry. So behind in fact, that she had resorted to wearing the cream yukata with pink and blue flowers she'd been avoiding for months. It's not that she didn't like it anymore. On the contrary, it was one of her favorites. She was irrationally paranoid. There was only one person in all of Konoha she didn't want catching her in that particular yukata, but she vowed to never wear it out in public again, just to be safe.

Today, she had broken that vow for the first time, against her better judgment. Her walk to work had been slightly nerve-racking, with flitting green eyes seeking out her number one threat in the crowds filtering through the busy streets. As nervous as she was, she had taken the risk if only because she had no other stops to make that day, and she promised herself that laundry was the first thing she'd take care of as soon as she returned home. Even if it was 2 am by then. She had her medic outfit with her of course, but she only liked to wear it in the hospital. Before her shift, she wanted it to be as clean as possible, and after her shift, it was usually the last thing she wanted to touch, so she kept it in her bag when she wasn't on the clock.

To no great surprise, Sasuke hadn't shown up. Why would he? It's not like she ran into him that often when they weren't training together or on a mission. Konoha was a vast village to get lost in, and she hadn't been brave enough to cross into Uchiha territory since that fateful day, during a spring storm. Even if she did run into him, there was a healthy chance that he wouldn't so much as give her choice of clothing a second glance. She had no idea if he would recognize the pattern...but he had at least caught a glimpse of it when he'd found it bundled scandalously under Itachi's robe in the tearoom. Nevertheless... Some risks were worth taking, but this was one she would not gamble on.

And Itachi...

As Sakura's tired feet carried her down the long, winding hall that would lead to the main entrance, a bulky bag slung over her shoulder, she found her thoughts drifting to him for the first time in weeks. She had never forgotten him. Embarrassingly enough, she had spent more nights than she could count trying to get him out of her head, in the beginning. It'd been almost impossible, for so very long. Seeing him again had been out of the question, regardless of how many times she had abruptly woken in the middle of the night, roused from an absurdly steamy dream that startled her in its perversion. She just couldn't do it. Even after the bitter-sweet ending—the brief, yet touching conversation he had left her with—she had fled without the courage to ever look back.

Why?

She was afraid...

There were many ways she had tried to rationalize her reaction—her insistence in avoiding the Uchiha entirely—but when all her excuses and lies boiled away, she was left with a stark realization that left her feeling naked and so very small. She was incapacitated by fear, haunted with insecurities, and stumped beyond all hope when it came to understanding the unique and senseless chemistry between them, and what it meant...if anything.

Remarkably, no one had discovered what happened that day, and she planned to keep it that way. Her feelings for Sasuke were conflicting and distracting enough—yes, they were still present, although admittedly, they were...different somehow. She didn't need to be bombarded with an obsession over Itachi as well. Her brain just might literally explode. All she wanted was to get on with her life like nothing had happened, and focus on what mattered most, like her career. Ironically, Itachi had helped push her down that path. As thoughts, memories, and images of him taunted her sporadically for days and nights on end, she had begun working more. Her hope had been to drown him out by staying as busy as possible, and over a stupidly long period of time...it had finally started taking affect.

"Sakura..."

"Sakura, watch out!"

Her head jerked up as she was ripped unexpectedly from her reverie, just in time to see a shoulder honing in on her face. Whipping her body sideways, she barely managed to safely maneuver past the two desperate-looking medics racing a stretcher down the hall in the opposite direction. Had she really not heard them coming? That was a first... Maybe she did need to get more sleep.

The hem of her yukata flared as they zipped by her, leaving her to pause curiously and watch them continue on their way as she stood against the wall. Her eyes flickered between the two, and then down to the body lying between them. The glimpse of a bright, fractured ANBU mask stole her attention, and Sakura danced a sympathetic eye over the bruised and gashed, sallow face that peaked past the jagged porcelain edge, and the dark ponytail that draped over the pillow.

As they disappeared around a corner, she slowly turned around, readjusting the strap on her shoulder. The soft padding of her feet was the only sound to fill the hall once they had gone, and she resumed her thoughtful stare on the floor as she noted that that had been the most action she'd seen all night. Not that she had the right to complain. As much as she enjoyed healing others, she never wanted to see anyone sick or injured.

Half a dozen steps later, Sakura stilled. The blank floor was replaced with the equally boring walls that stretched onward before her, lined with closed doors and manilla envelopes and clipboards sticking out of the slots next to them, as she lifted her head again...but she saw none of it. A deathly silence filled the air, and her bleary gaze sharpened as if waking from a dream. She spun suddenly, a twirl of short pink hair that was in dire need of a wash fanning around her as she faced the direction she had just come from, the same direction the stretcher had barreled down.

Two tentative steps pushed her reluctantly down the hall, and then she broke into a run after a short pause. They carried her to the corner she had seen them skid around, and ran faster when another empty hall greeted her...listening for voices, for wheels, anything that would help her locate them.

It had to be a mistake. There was no way it could be...

But she had to find out.

Common sense guided her down another hall, where she knew she'd find the ICU, and she looked up just in time to see the double doors closing slowly in the distance ahead. Sakura flew into a sprint, startling a nurse as she blurred by with a speed she never would have dared under normal circumstances. The doors swung back open before they had the chance to close all the way, and she slid to a stop at the first door.

The scene that faced her was one she'd experienced so many times before. The room bustled with activity, staff exchanging information and orders to one another, hovering over and scurrying around the body that lied motionless between them. Two more medics rushed past her into the room to help, while she remained just beyond the door frame, trying to get a glimpse of the unknown ANBU that was the focus on everyone's attention, without getting in the way. The one blocking her view of his face finally moved, and Sakura's buzzing mind was silenced instantly with a heavy weight sinking into the pit of her stomach. The broken mask had been shed, and she was left to gape in pure disbelief at the portrait before her, with his head turned to the side and a flaccid, upturned hand hanging over the edge of the stretcher. The strap on her shoulder slipped, and her bag fell to the ground with a soft plop. She swayed briefly, wide eyes and parted lips frozen in time.

"Uchiha Itachi... Blood type AB. Get two pints ready." She heard one of the medics order, yet the hesitant tone in his voice suggested that he didn't believe they were going to need them. An IV stand was already positioned next to him with an untouched hanging bag waiting to be used. They were in the process of hooking him up to the standard machines, and as soon as the heart monitor was activated, a loud, flat sound permeated the room. The sound that always made her hair stand on end...but this time, it did so much more than that.

Vaguely, Sakura caught one of them asking how much time had passed already, and another saying that he had been unresponsive at arrival. The next thing she knew, her body reacted faster than her brain, and she dove into the room and shoved past two of the medics in her way.

"Sakura! What are you—?!"

Everyone took a step back in surprise as she forced her way to the bedside, fingers scrambling to unzip the blood-coated flak jacket with its numerous rips and black singes. She didn't bother to look for the scissors. The dark shirt underneath was mutilated with a loud ripping sound to reveal Itachi's swollen, discolored torso. The sight caused her to suck in her breath, numbing her to her own frantic heart that was already hammering erratically within her. Three broken ribs poked through the blotched purple and red markings painting his skin...pristine, ivory claws reaching through a collage of cuts, lumps, and hematomas.

"Sakura, you shouldn't be in here! Your shift ended—"

"Where are the catheters?!" Her commanding voice interrupted him as her hands pressed gently against the battered chest. There was no doubt within her mind that his lungs were filled with blood, and she knew exactly what she needed to do. A pale, yet vibrant green glow illuminated from her hands, eyes closing in concentration as her medical training took charge and sought out the extent of his injuries. A medic reluctantly handed her the clear tube she had asked for, while casting a confused glance to the man that had questioned her. No one was sure what to do, at first. The suddenness of her arrival and the intense attitude jarred them from their routine.

Snatching the nearest blade, Sakura made the first incision into the left side of his chest and inserted the tube. A gush of red glided down the narrow channel, and she scurried to the opposite side of the bed to repeat the steps on his right lung. This was only the second time she'd performed the procedure, despite how common these types of wounds were in their line of work, and the first time had been under supervision. None of that mattered now. None of it even crossed her mind. Instinct drove her and adrenaline destroyed any hesitation she normally would have fallen victim to when taking charge in this setting, and with a patient in such critical condition.

But this wasn't just a patient. This was Itachi. The man spoken of more highly than any other by Sasuke, who was already out of her league...the man that filled her with all sorts of funny emotions she didn't know how to deal with...the future leader to the Uchiha clan...the one shinobi she'd never seen in need of medical care. He was rumored to be invincible. The one being in all of Konoha who's unmatched skills prevented him from ever setting foot in their hospital for any reason. Yet, here he was... It would have knocked Sakura into a stupor if the utter panic hadn't set in first, tripped into play by the striking flat-line of the heart monitor.

With the dark fluid draining into the regulated containers, her hands spread over the cool skin once more, feeling for the worst of the damage through the tendrils of chakra that poured into him, and targeting them with a flood of life-giving energy. Every organ suffered from one kind of trauma or another, with his lungs close to being irreparable. Another medic shifted above her, placing his hands on either side of Itachi's head as more healing light glimmered along the contours of his sickly features. Two more joined her at his torso.

"What happened to you..." Her voice would whisper too quietly to break past the endless noise of the horizontal green line behind her as she navigated the network of ruptured blood vessels and shattered bones.

"It's been too long. Look at his face... Even if we can revive him now, he's likely to be remain comatose."

Sakura grit her teeth, keeping her eyes shut as an angry scowl expressed the words she would not allow them to hear. They were wrong. He was fine. He was Itachi...he had to be fine. This was nothing to him. He was unstoppable, and any second now the line would hiccup into a healthy rhythm, and he would open his eyes.

_Red... Nothing existed but red. Not an offensive, violent red. It was the most beautiful shade... Bathing him in a rich void of midnight crimson as he sank deeper, endlessly, to an immeasurable depth that lulled him perfectly with its warmth and darkness. A ruby sea encased him, and brought with it a sense of profound peace he had never felt before. Light flickered high above. A reach that would have taken him a few short seconds, or hours to drift to, he didn't know. But the light... It was mesmerizing. Lapping, shifting, warping like crystalline waves churning against a surface so loud and chaotic compared to the silent abyss he hovered in. There was no pain, no sadness. Simple, singular contentment was all he knew as he watched the hypnotic scene._

Her eyes opened, daring to glance back at the assaulting sound of the heart monitor in frustration and denial. It wasn't working. Six uninterrupted minutes of pouring her chakra into him, and nothing had changed. She turned back around, hands slipping up to his sternum, and the lifeless heart that hovered beneath.

"Sakura..." A sad voice drifted to her, investing so much implication in the single name it spoke.

"Don't stop." She hissed in return, and the medics around her exchanged knowing glances. None of them knew what had possessed her. They'd never seen her so determined and focused before. For now, they played along...but between the five that inhabited the room, it was clear she was the only one that had a trace of hope left.

_And then, a drop... A blaze of white splashing into his protective ocean. A small pearl of light filtering into his darkness like a shooting star with a thin blaze trailing behind it, linking it to the shuddering rays that reflected above. Then another. And then another. They fell like raindrops, pattering over the turbulent surface and down into his realm. His calm, indifferent gaze watched them with the faintest curiosity, peering up lazily past the strands of loose hair left to suspend weightlessly around his face as he drifted deeper still. They seemed so very far away, and yet he couldn't take his eyes off them. Like him, they sank deeper and deeper, following his descent faithfully._

Ten minutes. The determination was faltering. Her confidence was waning. Horror was quickly taking their places. But she couldn't stop. She was in pure disbelief. The reality that this might be something that she, or anyone else, would never be able to fix, was paralyzing her with fear.

This couldn't be happening...

"Sakura."

Someone called her name again, but she wouldn't hear it. She wouldn't open her eyes, and she wouldn't pay heed to the flat-line behind her. The wretched, ear-splitting squeal that made her want to slam her fist into the machine to end its harassment permanently.

"Sakura, it's over." It was soft and gentle, as if they feared she would turn on them in a sudden rage...but persistent. "Brain damage occurs after six minutes. Ten, and we're facing severe neurological damage. You know this. He was gone before he entered the hospital..."

"SHUT UP!" She screamed, causing the four of them to jump simultaneously. The sheer desperation in her voice was unnerving, heartbreaking even.

"If you're not going to help, then get the fuck out of my way!" Her fingers twitched, clenching tensely into his skin as the ribbons of green that matched her eyes coursed continuously through him.

_Ah, so they were faster than him. The little beads of light dove onward as if they were filled with purpose. Curious things... But, as the first one reached him, he found his eyes creeping wider. Their dark pools captured movement. A soft twirling and swaying. Nothing like a raindrop, but rather... Yes, it was a petal. A tiny, soft flower petal. It's journey ended with a feathery brush against his cheek, and there it remained. Behind it, others followed closely, and they weren't white after all. They were the palest pink, and they poured over him now. Blinding him to the crashing scarlet waves above, and shrouding him in gentle touches._

Twelve minutes.

Nothing.

The other medics had already backed away from the corpse while her hands remained firmly planted. One of them held a clipboard, and was scribbling the time of death into a form that they'd regrettably had to use so many times before.

"Sakura, I'm sorry..." A hand fell to her back tentatively.

She lost it. Her shoulders shook as she collapsed onto him, arms splaying over his upper chest to hang past his arm. A loud wail haunted the room—an explosion of raw pain and anger she was no longer able to contain, and her face hid itself in the filthy mess of his shredded flak jacket.

How could this be... This wasn't supposed to happen to him. He was too powerful for this. Too strong-willed. And so young... Older than her, but far too young to leave this world. This wasn't an end he deserved. This didn't make any_ sense._

And Sasuke. How could she tell him what had happened? She would never find the strength to stand in front of him and confess how she had failed. How she had let slip away his only brother, and the one person he cared about above all others.

She would sooner take his place on the stretcher than be faced with that task.

_They stopped. Hundreds, no...thousands of tiny pink petals had showered him, blanketing him and floating past him into the darkness, as if an entire forest of cherry blossoms had been shaken above his head. And then, they stopped. He was alert now, staring into the lights peering through the waves above as they reemerged behind the torrent of dismembered flowers that had abruptly ceased. They were different now, though. They were brighter, and closer. He could almost hear the chorus that roared along with them. Almost reach out and touch the surface. But it was fading...fading almost as quickly as the petals had faded. Why? He wasn't sure if he cared. But the petals...they had been so pretty..._

"You have his contact information? I'll notify his family." One of them murmured to the other, steering clear of the shuddering girl that was steadily soaking the jacket of the deceased with unseen tears. Her teeth clenched so hard it ached throughout her jaw, and she choked on an exasperated, overwhelmed breath that sounded more like a gasp.

"No! I'll do it..." She blurted through a sob, never lifting her head while she struggled in vain to recollect herself. Four pairs of eyes locked onto the blue and pink flowers of her back, obvious doubt contained in their gazes. Even if she truly wanted to be the one, she couldn't face his family like this. It wasn't professional on their part, and for her, it would just be unbearable torture. Why would she even offer?

Sakura slowly lifted her head, eyes squeezing shut in an agonized grimace she couldn't break herself from, and her right hand balled into a glowing fist and struck down on his chest, directly over his heart as fresh rivers fell down her cheeks.

_Blinding lights engulfed him. The waves that had been drifting slowly away shot forward faster than he could register, and the rays that had been beaming through them encompassed him completely. With their new warmth came a violent tingling sensation, and an obnoxious cacophony of noise he couldn't decipher._

Everyone halted mid-motion, heads turning stiffly to stare at the heart monitor as the awful sound they had begun to grow used to had tripped into a steady beat with measured pauses. Sakura blanched, her bloodshot eyes bulged, and she could do nothing but stare in bewildered awe at the gyrating green line on a black screen behind her.

Before any of them could shake from their dazes, a geyser of blood and stomach acid splattered over Itachi's bare chest as he lurched forward reflexively with a sickening gurgle. The body slumped back down silently, just as quickly as it had risen, and the first raspy gasps of air trickled from his coated throat, and bubbled foreboding into the chest tubes that were draining his lungs.

"O—Oh... Oh Kami... Ohhhhhh, oh my goodness..." One of the medics fumbled clumsily, and then sprung into action. Another tossed the partially filled form onto a tray and rushed toward the stretcher. In no time at all, Itachi was filled with more tubes and IV's than they could keep track of.

Sakura swooped down over him, taking his face in her hands to continue her healing. So much of her chakra had been poured into him in such a short amount of time, and it showed as she wobbled a little on her feet all of a sudden, but it didn't matter...her willfulness had paid off. As her hand passed over his cheek and up to his temple, she couldn't help but laugh. More tears dripped from her chin, with no sign of stopping anytime soon, but her laughter was now escalating almost hysterically.

As her energy danced through him, she was thrown for a loop all over again when an eye parted of its own free will right in front of her. A hint of onyx peaking up through sticky lashes to gaze at her, causing her breath to catch in her throat.

The slight change caused the medic next to her to look up and freeze. "No way... That's impossible." The deep voice murmured in astonishment.

"Itachi?" Her whisper bathed his face, quaking in fear and excitement.

The lone eye was fixated indefinitely. For a moment, she thought he couldn't actually see or hear any of them, as unfocused and unresponsive as it was.

"Petals..." The single word forced its way weakly past a pocket of blood, almost indistinguishable to their ears.

"...Petals?..." She repeated as all the sights and sounds of the room around her vanished, leaving her to hang on to his only spoken word. But it was the fact that he had spoken at all that was amazing.

A couple seconds later, his eye inched closed again without further explanation, and the weak wisps of air inhaling and exhaling from his chapped and split, colorless lips were the only sounds he made.

"...Petals...Petals!" Sakura shouted like a maniac, earning her some odd stares and glances as she appeared to all but lose her mind. She laughed harder, body shaking in the turmoil of contrasting emotions that took control of her. This feeling... It was indescribable. He was alive. That's all she could think. He was _alive._ No longer would she have to entertain the terrifying, heart-wrenching thought of facing Sasuke with the news of his brother's death.

"H-He...he s-said PETALS!" She was gasping for air now. Face stained an alarming pink between the simultaneous laughter and sobs. Her knees quivered, and she stumbled backwards as her hands slipped away from him, feeling suddenly weak. One of the medics grabbed her as her world began to spin, and she was carefully eased down to the floor to lean back against the wall.

Dizzy as she was, and feeling higher than a cloud, she stared up at the stretcher swarmed by attentive hands as they went about healing the rest of his internal injuries as well as they could.

He was ok now... Nothing else mattered...

* * *

_**A/N: **Merr. Was this ending too abrupt? I always have trouble with that. Maybe I'll come back later and edit things a little, but I don't know. I like to give enough to reel you in, while always leaving more to be desired. It makes the anticipation for the next chapter all the more sweet (or aggravating?)_

_But hey, Itachi is alive now! So you can put away those torches and pitchforks you've been hiding behind your backs! Yeah... I knew they were there... It's ok, though. I get it._

_And now, after spending hours mulling over this chapter, I have to look forward to getting up in 3 hours for a nursing orientation. Heh. In the words of Forrest Gump..."I am not a smart man."_


	3. Ch 3

_**A/N:** Terribly sorry for how long it's taken me to post this chapter, guys. I've been pretty busy, but I won't bore you all with the details. There are a few things I'd like to address, though. Nothing too important, but I wanted to respond to a few comments and questions left after chapter 2. If you don't see your name below, feel free to skip this next part, if you want._

* * *

_**haliz:** when Itachi said "Petals", it wasn't supposed to make sense to anyone else but him. He's not all there mentally at that point, as he's just been revived and in a very poor state of health, and the last thing he remembers seeing is a shower of sakura blossoms. So yeah, sorry to confuse you there, but it wasn't meant to make much sense in the first place. :)_

_**kkstev:** I left Shisui out of that chapter on purpose. Can't give you too much at once now... :)  
**  
cherryjubilee:** I struggled with that idea while I was writing the chapter, honestly. I'm trying to give her a bit of balance. On one hand, she's only 15, so despite living in a world where she's forced to grow up pretty fast and face the kind of drama and destruction rampant in a shinobi's line of work, she still has a lot to learn and experience. I didn't want her to be _too_ grown up and confident, yet. On the other hand, since she _is _a shinobi, and most of her life has been spent training hard for the sake of her village, I also didn't want her to seem too pathetic or incapable. She's a medic, she knows what she's doing, to a certain extent. She's nothing close to Tsunade's level, but I wanted to show that amidst her weaknesses and flaws, she's still talented, intelligent, and a skilled medic. In normal circumstances, she wouldn't have been giving orders and taking charge in the ICU, or shoving catheters in someone's chest by herself, but this was somewhat of a defining moment for her, and the consequences of her decisions and actions will actually resurface later on in this story._

_**starkiss666:** she does seem kinda weak, doesn't she? I'm really not trying to portray her that way. In my mind, she's just an average shinobi right now, but she seems kind of weak when compared to Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi. Naruto's a jinchuuriki with a _lot_ of chakra, and Sasuke's an Uchiha, which in itself is supposedly a step up from the rest. Not to mention the fact that his and Itachi's father is the leader of their clan, so I assume they've been trained by the best, too. But yeah, I wanted her to have some more growing up to do in this fic._

* * *

There were voices somewhere. Drifting in and out within the fog of her chaotic and nonsensical mind. None of them were familiar, and she couldn't distinguish any of the words. Just muffled syllables spoken softly through the darkness, constantly interrupting every random, passing image that unfolded around her without much direction. That was, until something touched her.

Her senses rushed back to her, ushering her into a new realm. She recognized her own limbs instantly, as the haze dispersed and she suddenly felt the confines of her own body once more. The muffled voices sharpened, drifting much closer through a sea of black. Sakura's eyes cracked open slowly, a flood of body aches reigniting to the forefront of her mind as she peered into the blurry, dark room.

"Sakura..."

Springing from her stillness quite abruptly at the sound of a voice right next to her ear, she immediately regretted the movement as pain shot through her neck and head. The chair she'd been half sitting, half laying in hadn't been very comfortable, and the small table she had slouched onto hadn't proven to be a great pillow, either. She smacked a hand against her cheek, only to realize her entire left hand and arm had gone numb...but she still felt the smudge of drool on her face, and blinked down at the shallow pool left on the table. If she'd been any more awake yet, she would've felt a little embarrassed, but she was too busy trying to figure out where she was, and why she was there. The time and day itself eluded her, even. Clearly, she was in dire need of more sleep, and was not at all ready to start functioning yet. Everything was just one giant confusing headache.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?"

The voice, still so close to her, forced her to wake up a little more and mumble something incoherent as she rubbed her puffy eyes, and turned to look up at the source. Black eyes stared down at her from a pale and sinfully pretty face. So pale that it almost glowed in the dark, framed in short strands of black that looked like flawless silk. It took her a couple seconds to realize it was Sasuke standing right next to her, staring down at her, but when she did, she instantly turned pink and quickly wiped the drool off her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Buh...wh-...gah! What? Where am..." She blinked furiously and looked around the room. That's when the quiet sound of the heart monitor reached her ears, blinking its neon green light on the screen across from her, in between two taller forms that were standing next to an occupied hospital bed.

"Sasuke, don't be rude. She must have been here all night. You should be thankful he has someone watching over him so closely." A gentle female voice carried over to them, and Sakura spotted the pale face and dark hair and eyes that mirrored Sasuke's so acutely.

"I didn't mean it like—... Sorry." He ended his fragmented sentence with a defeated grunt, glancing away from his mother and back to Sakura, who was still too wrapped up in trying to put everything together to speak yet.

Mikoto carefully moved closer to the sleeping form buried under sheets and blankets with thin plastic tubes protruding all over the place. She bent down, petting a small hand over Itachi's forehead and down his cheek, murmuring something Sakura couldn't pick up. Fugaku stood next to her, keeping his downcast eyes and all-too serious expression on the motionless body. In the dim light, she could make out the dark shades of his Konoha Military Police uniform, and the tired lines on his face that reminded her a little of Itachi's. He must have been working late, without a chance to stop home before the bad news reached him.

Things were clearer now. She remembered where she was, and why... After Itachi had been stabilized, Sakura had collapsed into a chair, and watched a couple nurses wheel him away to clean him off and get rid of the mutilated and useless ANBU uniform that had been left in rags. It had been around 2 am then. She should have gone home. Everyone had told her to. But she wouldn't... She had waited for them to transfer him to a room, and when they did, she marched her tired, stubborn butt in there and sat down. They had brought him back to life, mended his lungs and ribs the best they could, and dealt with the rest of his internal injuries, but he wasn't in the clear yet. If something happened, she wanted to be there, and she wasn't going to let anyone push her out for any reason.

Whenever she had drifted off the sleep was beyond her. The last thing she could remember was staring off into space at the shifting light on the screen and the numbers next to it, searching in vain for any threatening blips that would signal something was wrong. She should have known she would have nodded off eventually. She also should have expected his family to show up. She'd just been so drained that it slipped her mind.

"My shift had just ended when he came in..." She began slowly, glancing back up to Sasuke, who was still watching her intently, and waiting for an answer.

"They ran past me with him when I was walking down the hall, and...I didn't recognize him at first, but then I realized... So I... I ran after them, and... I helped." It was a sad excuse of an explanation, but she found herself at a loss for the right words, and with each second that ticked by under his curious gaze, she felt more and more nervous. It didn't make sense for her to be so nervous, and she knew that, in the back of her mind. Perhaps it was the guilt subconsciously lurking around, poking holes in her confidence. The guilt she still held from her first meeting with Itachi. Sasuke didn't know any of that, but even still, she found it difficult to completely relax under his spotlight.

"You helped them after your shift ended... And then you stayed?" His voice murmured down to her, sounding much more suspicious to her than it really should have, and Sakura suddenly felt a little too hot under the collar.

"W-well, I...yeah. I mean... He's your brother, soo..." Her voice grew smaller and smaller as she trailed off clumsily, failing to notice her own hands gripping into fists in her lap as she squirmed uncomfortably. Yeah, he was Sasuke's brother. That's why she had stayed. There couldn't be any other reason besides that... Right?

She nearly jumped when she felt a hand thump down on her shoulder, and her head jerked back up to look at him.

"Thanks, Sakura." The words that reached her surprised her, and she gawked silently at the faint smile he gave her, before he glanced over to the bed.

It was only a simple thank you, but it was the most genuine thing he'd said to her in a while. A long while. She never had apologized for going off on him all those months ago, and ever since then, he'd been a little different around her. A bit more aloof, if nothing else...ironically, the exact opposite of what she had wanted him to be, and hoped he would be considering the things she had said. But...this was Sasuke. His frustrating reaction shouldn't have shocked her at all.

The warm hand slipped off her shoulder, and she watched him move to the bedside across from his parents.

"This is the first time he's been in a hospital, I think." Sasuke joked quietly, looking down at him while Mikoto kissed his cheek next to the oxygen mask and stood back up. "And hopefully the last. Look at all these tubes..." She said, frowning sadly while her husband remained silent, lost in thought.

They didn't know, did they? No one had told them the state in which he had been brought to the hospital. She could tell just by watching them. They didn't have a clue how close they'd come to losing him forever.

"He lost a lot of blood."

The three looked over at her simultaneously, and Sakura tensed slightly under their collective gazes, feeling a bit nervous again. This was the first time she'd been around Sasuke's whole family. If she'd ever even spoken to his parents before, she couldn't remember when. She just felt so...out of place, all of a sudden.

Letting her eyes fall to the floor, she sifted through the flashes of memories that had occurred only hours ago, trying to decide what details to tell them, if any, while her head pounded unsympathetically.

"There was some damage to his chest, so we had to drain the fluid, and...there were a lot of gashes to stitch. He's ok, though... He'll be fine. Just a little beat up." Offering a slight smile, she decided to leave it at that. What use was there in painting a horrific picture? No matter how accurate, troubling them with such things wouldn't do any good now. Who wanted to hear that their son, or their brother, almost died—_had_ died—and was seconds away from having a sheet pulled over his head? Sakura wasn't even a part of their family, and it had torn her up inside when she thought he was truly gone. She didn't want to burden them...especially with things that were in the past, and couldn't be helped now.

"Oh, his back is a little messed up too. He'll need some physical therapy before he goes back to work." She added quickly, remembering the splints and bandages they'd used.

As little as she had given them to mull over, the vibe in the room had shifted noticeably, and the looks they were giving her—the look Sasuke was giving her—was enough to reinforce her belief that she had done the right thing in downplaying Itachi's injuries.

"Uhm... What did they tell you?" She mumbled more quietly, watching them expectantly.

"They said he had been admitted to the hospital at midnight, and that he was in stable condition and resting." Mikoto spoke while the others stared. The doctor charged with his care must not have dropped in yet, or perhaps they had just showed up... Either way, he was bound to make his appearance sooner or later, and there was no doubt he would share more of the awful details with them that Sakura had avoided. If only she could stop him... Of course, they had every right to know what he had gone through, but this was one thing she wished she could hide, for their sake.

"Well...someone should be in shortly to talk with you. I'll leave you guys alone with him." Sakura pushed her stiff form out of the chair, joints cracking and popping as she realigned herself into a normal position. She still didn't know what time it was, but she could already tell the next day ahead of her was going to be brutal.

"Oh, you don't have to leave!" Mikoto pleaded with a smile, catching her off guard. "It was thoughtful of you to stay... It's like he has his own guardian angel with you here. I can't believe Sasuke has never mentioned what a considerate and capable teammate he has." Shooting him a reprimanding look, Sasuke looked shocked for a second, before sheepishly glancing away, saying nothing. Sakura felt a swell of pride at the unanticipated compliment, but hid it under a bashful smile.

"Let her go." Fugaku's deep, yet low voice finally joined in, his eyes cast once more on his resting son. "She needs her sleep. The nurses will take care of him."

"Oh... I guess you're right..." Mikoto sighed quietly without putting up a fight. "I'm sorry Sakura, you must be very tired."

"It's ok! I stayed because I wanted to." She blurted, but before she could make a single move for the door, it opened for her then, bathing the dark room with a flood of light from the hallway. A nurse crept in and closed it behind her, letting only a thin shaft of light peak past to streak over the bed. She gave them all a pleasant smile, until her eyes fell on Sakura standing in the corner.

"Sakura! You're still here?" The disbelieving stare caused her to laugh awkwardly.

"Heh... Yep. I'm still here. Actually, I was just about to leave..."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after everything that's happened." Shaking her head, the nurse smirked before facing Fugaku and Mikoto, a clipboard in her hand.

"What do you mean, after everything that's happened?" His mother asked, watching her quizzically.

The nurse looked a little surprised at first as she took in the obviously ignorant masks on their faces. Sakura blanched in realization, and her eyes widened slightly. Raising a hand, she waved to get the girl's attention, only to be ignored.

"Well, after the ordeal your son has been through... She wouldn't leave his side. In fact, she was shouting orders at everyone in the ICU. We could hear her down the halls."

"The...the ICU?" Mikoto whispered, bringing a hand to her mouth as she listened intently.

All traces of humor left the nurse's face, as she seemed to understood just then that nobody had informed his family of what happened to him. She glanced briefly to Sakura, who was now waving frantically with both hands behind the turned heads, and gave her a quick, sharp look.

"Yes, he was rushed to the ICU. Mrs. Uchiha, Sakura here is the only reason your son is alive, from what I've heard."

Sakura's hands dropped to her sides, a sinking dread plummeting through her stomach like a bag of stones. The three of them turned to stare at her in disbelief, immediately searching for a more elaborate explanation. The one they now knew she had been withholding from them.

Her mouth flapped opened without direction, unsure of what to say to them, but with the look of embarrassment and horror on her face, they didn't need to hear anything from her to know the nurse's words rang true.

"Sakura... What happened?" Mikoto's voice reached her, and she felt her chest tighten.

"He... He was in pretty bad shape, initially..." Revealing reluctantly, she clenched her jaw, scrambling for a way to give them enough information to make them happy, without saying more than was necessary.

"Your son was dead on arrival. Sakura spent almost fifteen minutes trying to revive him. No one else would have waited that long. It's unheard of for a brain to recover after such a long time without oxygen, but he's doing alright so far. It's nothing short of a miracle." For some reason, the nurse seemed hellbent on exposing all of the raw and worst facts to them. If she could have gotten away with it, Sakura would have shoved her back out of the room and slammed the door, but there was nothing she could do now.

Mikoto stumbled a little, before grabbing a chair and slowly sitting down while her hands shook over her mouth. She stared at Sakura, piercing through her with an astonished look. Fugaku's eyes narrowed slightly at the news, his brows knitting together as he glanced down to Itachi, and then over to Sakura as well.

"Almost fifteen minutes...?" He asked her skeptically, eyes searching her own, and Sakura tried to keep her throat from closing up and becoming useless.

"...Yes...It's true." She finally managed to admit, and swallowed as her shoulders slumped. What else could she say to them? There was nothing for her to be ashamed of, but that didn't mean she wanted them to know everything that had gone on. Sometimes, ignorance was bliss...

Meanwhile, Sasuke had been standing there with his back to her, facing the nurse without so much as moving a muscle. It was as if he hadn't heard a single word anyone had spoken, as he stared off into space. Every so often, the nurse would give him a curious look, but said nothing.

"It's...it's not something we usually do... I... He's Sasuke's brother. I couldn't just stand there and...let him go." Her voice cracked unexpectedly with those last three words, and Sakura looked away from them, overwhelmed with a strange surge of emotion that had come out of nowhere, and she was forced to put all of her focus into keeping her eyes dry as she blinked and cleared her throat.

Crap. Why was she about to cry? Shinobi don't cry. This wasn't good... Everything was fine now. There was nothing to be sad about. She had done what she had to do, and it had paid off. Itachi was alive, his family was here, she could relax and go on with her life...starting with scrounging a couple more hours of sleep before the next long day began.

In her silent struggle to remain composed, she had missed the movement in the corner of her eye. The rest of the room had fallen quiet. Even the nurse paused. But there was a new sound briefly as a shift of fabric faintly caught her ear. In the next moment, a wall of warmth slammed into her, almost startling a yelp from her as her eyes flashed wide and she stared in wonder past a shoulder and brush of dark hair.

Sasuke had snatched her into a bear hug, and was holding her so tightly she was afraid to move...if moving was even possible. Her mind was wiped clean of all thoughts, and slowly, her arms curled around his back out of reflex. The back of a man that had barely ever touched her, outside of their occasional sparring, and the hand that had patted her shoulder moments earlier. Had Sasuke ever hugged her before at all? She couldn't recall... It was such a rare event that she didn't have a clue what to do. She was too stunned to even fully enjoy it.

Across the room, Fugaku leaned down and whispered something into his wife's ear, before kissing her on the head and turning to the nurse. "I'd like to speak with you outside." The nurse gave him a confused look, but obliged anyway.

"Of course... I'm not his doctor, though. He'll be able to fill you in better than I can."

"You seem to know enough." He insisted, and the nurse quickly nodded and walked out with him, almost seeming a little intimidated. He was, after all, the only one in the room that kept all of his emotions under control. There was something eerie about his level of reserve.

None of it registered to Sakura, though. Everything else in the world ceased to exist for a few fleeting moments...and then even longer, when she realized Sasuke wasn't letting go. His hands pressed into her lower back and between her shoulder blades, and his dark eyes cast an intense look at the wall behind her. Sakura had froze, unsure of what to say...unsure of what to even feel yet.

"Was he really...? Was he really dead?" Faintly, she heard him whisper behind her, so quietly it was as if he was afraid of his own words. Like he couldn't bare to speak them. It was a vulnerable sound she'd never heard from him before.

"Yes..."

"And you brought him back...? All by yourself?"

"No...not by myself...but...they kept telling me to stop...that there was nothing more we could do..."

His head tilted down to hide his mouth against her shoulder, eyes squeezing shut as he refused to let her go. He was remarkably still and quiet, and she could tell he wasn't crying, but those few gestures alone spoke volumes for him. There was so much emotion seeping to the surface that she never expected to feel from him...literally feel...as everything flowed through the hard steel of his arms wrapped around her, nearly crushing the air out of her lungs. He expressed more with that endless hug than he ever could have with words.

"He'll be ok, Sasuke. I promise." She muttered a little more fragile, sensing the same wave that had hit her moments ago returning as her eyes grew misty again. This time, it couldn't be helped. Once the initial shock had worn off, all those girly emotions she wanted to suppress were inching closer and closer. So what if this was Sasuke...actually hugging her...actually appreciating her...and actually showing it for the first time ever. This was no time to be mushy. She was supposed to be strong and encouraging, now that everyone knew what had happened. And she was trying...but... _Sasuke was hugging her. _For Sakura, he had been her greatest weakness for years, and the one person that eluded her so expertly. Embracing him was more than a little difficult to fathom now.

And just like that, it was over. One second he was holding her like she had always wished he would, and the next, his hands were slipping as he pulled away from her. There was a bitter-sweet ache in her heart as she looked up at him, his face passing into view as he stood in front of her, letting his arms fall away. Sniffing quietly, she wiped the corner of her eye before a tear could fall. His were dry, though they revealed a new heaviness, and a sadness as he seemed to gaze right through her.

For a moment, it looked as though he were about to speak, but he stopped short. Sakura watched him curiously, waiting, and then felt a hint of apprehension when she noted the unusual change in his eyes. They sharpened somehow, and were no longer drifting through her, but dissecting her rather closely. They weren't looking into her own, either, they were aimed down somewhere along her chest or shoulder—she wasn't sure where.

"What...?"

She looked down when he said nothing, and her vision was flooded with the yellow and blue flowers of her slightly wrinkled and blood-spattered yukata.

The yukata she had left at their house, crumpled under Itachi's robe.

Ice washed through her insides, chilling her to the bone as a spark of panic ignited within her. She had completely forgotten what she was wearing. Of course, the entire day before she had been freaking out and taking ridiculous precautions to evade Sasuke...and then when he shows up in Itachi's hospital room—and naturally he was going to show up—it magically slips her mind. To be fair, she had been asleep when he came in, and worn out beyond belief, but Kami... She should have remembered to take care of at least _that_ not-so-minor detail!

When she looked back up at him, her eyes were a little too wide, and her pulse a little too thick as the color drained from her face. Those dark orbs, twitching over the pattern that covered her, eventually snapped to stare into her own wildly alert, pale green, and she nearly flinched.

He recognized it... He definitely recognized it... She could tell. He didn't need to say a word.

"Uhm! I'm sorry... I really need to go...now.. Gotta get ready to train soon! Kakashi... I have to train with Kakashi. Today—this morning! He's going to show me..something...because... I-I'll see you later!"

And with that hasty, pathetic patchwork of an excuse, Sakura hurried past him and waved a quick goodbye to his grieving and confused mother before dashing out the door. She slipped between Fugaku and the nurse, bowing apologetically as she barely managed not to smack into them, and broke at a near jog down the empty hallway. The kind of pace that screamed, 'I'm not trying to attract any attention...but holy shit get out of the way!'

"Hey..."

He ears picked up a voice calling behind her, the very last voice she now wanted to hear. Sasuke had poked his head out of the door, and then wriggled in between his father and the nurse, just as she had. She didn't stop though, in fact, she moved even faster as her heart pounded.

"Sakura!" He yelled louder, sounding slightly annoyed when she ignored him.

"I'm really tired, I gotta go!" She called back quickly, before breaking into a run...somehow missing how terribly contradictory her actions and speech were. But she couldn't think straight anymore. All she wanted to do was escape. Dear Kami, if she would ever be forced to face him with the truth, it couldn't be today. Any day but today. She couldn't handle any more stress right now...and probably neither could he.

She zipped around a corner and disappeared without hearing another sound from him, and instantly breathed a sigh of relief, though in the back of her paranoid mind she wondered if he would start chasing after her. Needless to say, she made the rest of the way out of the hospital and started her journey through the village streets back home as if she were trying to out-maneuver a stalker. Never once stopping to think that she might have left something important behind...like her bag with her medic uniform. The one still sitting in Itachi's hospital room.

"What am I going to do now..." She muttered in exasperation to herself as she took a shortcut down an alley. Sleep was now the last thing on her mind, even as the desolate roads and black sky revealed she still had a bit of time to take a long nap before she needed to be up and functioning again. For a short while, everything had been perfect. She had been so close to him. She had actually felt _significant_ for once. Before tonight, the only reason Sasuke had ever paid any attention to her was because she was on his team, and so he had no choice...that's really what she believed. But after he'd learned that she had saved his brother's life...it was as if he saw her as something valuable, for the first time. Even if these weren't the best circumstances, it had felt so good... But then, he had to see the one thing she didn't want him to see. He had to pay attention to the stupid clothes she was wearing, and the look on his face... It was like a light bulb had popped over his head. A very bad, foreboding light bulb. Could her luck be any worse?

What if he asked Itachi who he had been with that day, whenever he woke up? Would he answer honestly?

What if he asked her point blank? What would she tell him?

Fifteen minutes later, Sakura was able to flop down into her clean bed and stare up at the plain ceiling. No, there would definitely be no more sleeping tonight. Exhausted though she was, her mind was reeling. One thing was for certain, though. This yukata had to go. Nevermind the fact that it was stained with blood. It was going in the trash either way. But for now, all she could do until the sun came up was waste away in a hundred reasons to worry.

* * *

_**A/N:** Naturally, I am unimpressed with myself once again. My chapters are never good enough, in my opinion. But, I've learned that if I dilly-dally until I think I've pieced together something moderately appealing, I'll never get anywhere. XD So, there... _

_Humbleness aside, I want to thank all of you for your wonderfully thoughtful reviews. It's so fulfilling to read your reactions. It lets me know I'm doing _something_ right. Hopefully I can continue to satisfy your interest._

_And, yeah...Shisui was left out of this chapter, too. Don't worry, I didn't forget about him. He'll resurface soon._


	4. Ch 4

_**A/N:** Just so you guys don't freak out, if I haven't posted a new chapter in like two weeks or so, that's entirely normal for me. I promise if I ever decide I need to discontinue this story, or put it on hiatus, I will let everyone know. I don't plan on doing that, though. I just wanted you to know that a variety of factors are causing me to be kinda slow with uploading, so please bear with me. ^_^_

_Now, without further ado, here is chapter 4._

* * *

The steps down the hallway sounded louder than usual, and the lights seemed brighter. She was a tiny bit grumpy, a tiny bit nervous, and tired enough that every other thought passing through her head consisted of her face-planting into her own bed. Or a hospital bed. Or hell, the grass even. She just wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. Her day was only half over. Yet, with each step down that all-too-familiar hall, she was becoming more and more alert. Why? Sasuke. She had no idea if he would still be in the hospital, but it was very probable that he would be, and guess who had left their bag in Itachi's room in their hurry to escape... Yep. She did.

The rest of her sleepless morning had been spent with her thinking herself in circles, drowning in worry. Mostly because she really wasn't sure how she should approach the dreaded conversation with Sasuke that she knew was coming. She _would_ run into him again, and soon. It was inevitable. And as much time as she's spent with him over the years, she couldn't begin to guess what he would say or a do in this situation. It was just too...bizarre in general. There were too many factors, too many unknowns...and as a result, the headache she had awoken with so early in the morning had never faded away. It was now worse.

Her hands fiddled absent-minded with the hem of the shorts she was wearing, gaze lost in the endless, reflective floor as she rounded a corner and crept closer and closer to the door she wanted nothing more than to avoid at the moment. Luckily, she had arrived early for her shift, and had brought a spare uniform with her in a separate, smaller bag she rarely used, but she still needed to retrieve the other one. There was a sharp twinkle in her flitting eyes, despite the puffy bags beneath them stress and sleep deprivation had granted her. Stopping just short of the door, she stared at it as if she expected a monster to be hiding on the other side, just waiting for her to inch within its range so it could ambush her and drag her to her doom. The door itself was ajar, with a dark crack masking everything inside. The lights were off still... She couldn't hear anything... Perhaps everyone had left. Well, they were a fairly busy family, weren't they? They couldn't be there _all_ the time. If only she could be lucky enough to avoid him a for a little longer. She really wasn't ready to face him yet.

Sakura stood there another minute, trying to catch a rustle, a whisper, a snore—anything. Nothing could be heard. Taking a step closer, she put her hand on the door to slide it open, only to feel it suddenly slip away from her with a life of its own, the smooth surface replaced with a flak jacket about an inch away from her nose as it was flung to the side.

"GAH!" She yelled, jumping backwards and smacking a hand over her chest in fright. The stern, yet slightly surprised face of Fugaku stared down at her, blinking curiously.

"Oh! Mr. Uchiha!" Bowing politely, her eyes flickered from him to the darkness behind, wondering if Sasuke might in fact be in there after all. Good grief, he hadn't made a sound. How had he done that? She'd almost had a heart attack! He was wearing the same thing he'd had on earlier that morning too, and she had to wonder if he'd ever gone home.

"Uhm... Is Sasuke still here too?" The question was posed apprehensively as she clasped her hands in front of her. For a second—and only a second—the man left her hanging with a stoic expression, and Sakura paused. A memory hit her in a flash. Standing on a clean wooden porch with the pattering of rain darkening the path behind her, gazing up in confused wonder at a tired-looking man in a robe as he blinked down at her from the doorway. It had caught her off guard, almost as suddenly as he had whipped the door open in front of her, but she wasn't left to daydream for long.

"Sasuke left this morning to meet with Kakashi. He'll be back later." He answered her, ripping her from her unexpected reverie.

"Oh..." Her voice fell quietly, and it only took her a couple seconds to realize the mistake she had made. Just before she had run out of the room earlier, she'd conjured up some hasty, and painfully unbelievable lie about having to train with Kakashi in a few hours. Of course, as her luck would have it, that would be the exact thing Sasuke ended up doing that day. Kami, did she absolutely suck at lying, or what? Now she was really going to be in hot water.

"Are you working today, Sakura?"

"Yeah, my shift starts soon. I just needed to get my bag real quick. Is Itachi awake yet?"

"No, not yet. But I'd like you to come with me, if you can spare a minute."

Sakura's eyes lit up when he stepped out of the doorway and closed it softly behind him. The way he spoke made it sound like more of a statement than a request, which gave her pause. But then she remembered who he was, and what he did for a living. He was a man used to giving orders, wasn't he? He never left room for debate...and even if he did, he likely wasn't challenged by anyone under his command anyway. Well, she wasn't going to be the first to do it, that was for certain...

"Sure, of course... Where are we going?" She asked softly, following him as he lead the way down the hall.

"The nurse just informed me that Shisui is awake. He will want to meet you."

"Shi-...Shisui?" Trailing off in confusion, as the name didn't ring a bell for her, Sakura's brows knit together as she stared off into space at the white and red fan on the jacket bobbing along in front of her.

"Uchiha Shisui. He brought Itachi to the hospital last night. They were assigned the same mission. You didn't treat him?"

"...Oh! No, I had no idea..." Her eyes widened slightly, recalling that she had never stopped to consider exactly how Itachi had gotten to the hospital in the first place. Clearly he hadn't been in the condition to just walk into the lobby on his own.

They stopped at another door not too far away, and Sakura crept inside the equally dark room after the elder. In a bed before them, she could make out the figure of a pale man about Itachi's age with short dark hair. The head of the bed was propped up so he could sit upright without exerting himself, and he was shirtless with an array of bandages wrapped around his limbs, chest and waist, and an IV in his arm. The dark eyes staring into the room made her feel instantly guilty, though there was no logical reason for her to be. She merely regretted feeling so crappy, for the state this stranger was in before her—though he was still better off than Itachi—was far worse than hers. It took only a glimpse to determine their team had been through one hell of a trip last night.

The young man glanced in their direction immediately, and when Sakura flicked on the light, his eyes widened at the sight of Fugaku as he stepped toward the bed. But he stopped halfway, and they both watched in awe as Shisui pulled himself forward, wincing visibly as he left the comfort of the sloping bed, hands gripping into the blankets draped over him.

"Fugaku...Sir..." He breathed weakly, beginning to address him formally as he continued to shift, and slide his legs around to hang off the side of the bed. Sakura's hand drifted close to her mouth, half inclined to rush forward and stop him from moving. Even if he was capable, it wasn't something he should be doing yet, and she didn't need to be a medic to understand that. It looked painful and difficult, and the uncomfortable creases on his face said enough. She let him go though, as he seemed like he would be too determined to listen to her warning to take it easy.

Fugaku watched the sight as closely as she did, waiting patiently while Shisui managed to stand up and take a single step away from his bed, and pulled the IV from his arm. He was dressed in loose-fitting hospital pants with a drawstring, and nothing else. Blotches of purple and blue peaked from under the edges of the bandages circling his waist. An angry, red welt spread out from under a solid cast on his left arm. A mark she immediately recognized as a burn, which looked to have been healed moderately well already. With the amount of cotton and tape patched all over him, he could have made himself a new shirt.

Sakura glanced questioningly to Fugaku when he failed to speak or move. Why wasn't he doing anything? Was she missing something? But a soft thud brought her attention back to Shisui as he dropped to the cold floor on his knees, and forced his battered muscles into a low bow, with his forehead nearly touching the floor in front of the other man.

"Please, forgive me... There were too many of them. They split us apart. By the time I found him... I wasn't fast enough...I wasn't strong enough..." The words that filled the empty void in the room were spoken from a reservoir of courage and discipline, unwavering in strength, though the eyes that faced the floor were locked tightly shut. His teeth clenched. He looked rigid and exhausted, though Sakura couldn't tell if it was a result from physical pain, or something far deeper...

"Shisui, you don't need my forgiveness." Fugaku interrupted him calmly, but the younger man pressed on.

"No, I do. I failed him. I failed you. I failed your family. I couldn't save him... I tried... Please, believe me. I tried...with _everything_ I had... I wasn't—"

"—Shisui, Itachi is alive." Fugaku cut him off.

A deafening silence surrounded them, before slowly, the younger man opened his eyes to stare distantly at the floor an inch from his nose. The hand that had been hovering uncertainly near Sakura's mouth drifted over her lips, her other arm stretching across her waist. He had though he was dead... Well, that shouldn't come as a shock. He'd been unconscious this whole time, apparently. Poor guy... She couldn't begin to imagine what he must have been feeling.

Well, actually...maybe she could, if only a little bit. Early that morning, she had thought Itachi was gone forever, too.

"But... No... He's dead. He died before I reached the hospital..." His head lifted to stare in utter disbelief as he slowly sat upright, wide dark eyes frozen as he scrutinized the memories that haunted him.

"Yes. He was without a pulse for over ten minutes, so they say." Fugaku stepped to the side and glanced to Sakura, who couldn't take her gaze off the shocked look on Shisui's face.

"We owe our gratitude to Haruno Sakura for reviving him."

Shisui looked to her for the first time since they had entered the room, and for a few lengthy seconds, they simply stared at one another, neither having a clue what to say...where to begin...

"...He's...alive...?"

After a pause, Sakura nodded slowly at him, and couldn't help but smile as her hand fell away from her face. "He's not awake yet, but he's just down the hall. Would you like to see him?" She offered gently, and spared a glance at Fugaku, who merely watched her with a mysterious gleam in return.

They waited quietly as he sat there, continuing to stare as if nothing they said could quite reach him. Their words were far too good to be true. He half wondered if he was caught up in some lucid dream that would torment him once he awoke to the harsh reality that awaited. But then, the discomfort returned to contort his face as he pushed himself up off the floor.

Sakura stepped forward instinctively to help him this time, only to be stopped by Fugaku as he held up a hand. As if to say, 'Let him do it.' She looked at him in confusion, but he didn't offer any explanation, and so she was left to bite her tongue and watch the injured man rise on his own two feet uninhibited.

"Show me...please." Accepting her invitation with remarkable reserve, Sakura nodded a second time and lead the way out of his room and down the hall. His steps were slow but steady, and it took them a bit longer than expected to reach the other room. She chose to stay near him just to be safe, though refrained from aiding him per Fugaku's insistence that she leave him be. Perhaps it was simply a matter of pride that he move all on his own...she couldn't know for sure.

Opening Itachi's door for him, she let him walk with deliberate, stiff steps into the room and over to his bed. Shisui stood there for a time at the edge, staring down at his sleeping friend with the same look of disbelief he'd veiled himself with before. His face, sallow and vacant, appeared as it had last night...though he could see the traces of life that gave color to him. They were faint, but they were there, humming under the surface.

_He has a pulse...he's breathing...he's alive. _Yet, as many times as he repeated those words in his clouded head, with his own two eyes displaying all the evidence he would ever need, he just couldn't believe it.

Sakura waited quietly by the door, giving him his space as he seemed to disappear within himself entirely. If Fugaku hadn't specifically requested her presence, she would have left immediately. It was such a personal moment, she didn't feel right being there at all, but she would linger until instructed otherwise.

Suddenly, he collapsed into the chair behind him, and hunched over with his elbows resting on his legs, hands hanging between his knees. His head lowered, short limp hair masking his eyes, and Fugaku slipped past her and over to him. She watched as he set a hand on the younger man's shoulder, without saying a word. She could hear a shaky exhale drift from Shisui. All of the strength he'd armed himself with began its gradual descent as a light tremor wracked through him, and his hands slowly clenched into loose fists.

"Not every mission will be a success. You're both alive. That's all that matters." A deep voice murmured next to him. Still as calm as ever, though with those quiet words, he let his normally authoritative, stoic demeanor dissolve...if only briefly.

"Even if we had lost him, it would not have been your fault."

With that sentence, Shisui's hand rose to cover his face, his other arm retracting inward toward his stomach as his back arched him lower. He fell silent. Even his breathing paused. Sakura looked down at her feet. She didn't need to see him to know what was happening, as a single tear slipped out from under his hand, down his chin, and dropped onto his cast in the darkness...soon followed by another.

"I know you did your best...and I'm proud of both of you."

He released the breath he had been holding and leaned back into the chair, letting his hand drop as he stared over at the motionless figure on the bed. The corners of his eyes twitched lightly, though he somehow managed a controlled expression, despite the twin, clear rivulets streaking without sound down his cheeks.

Fugaku patted him once on the back, and then turned and walked toward Sakura. She glanced up when he neared, and he outstretched his hand, signaling for her to exit before him to give the younger man some time alone. But as they filed out the door, Shisui called out. "Sakura, wait a minute..."

Poking her head back in, she looked at him curiously, and he waved her over. She stepped back inside, and heard the door close behind her after only a small hesitation, as Fugaku left her alone with him.

For a third time, she saw him begin to struggle to his feet, and now she was at liberty to speak up. "Stop moving so much. You're supposed to be resting." She chided him as she walked over to his chair, though in a voice much gentler than she would normally use, given the circumstances. Though she was beginning to get a bit irritated.

He ignored her, of course, insisting on standing so he could pull her into a hug . She was surprised at first. Not nearly as surprised as when Sasuke clobbered her with his bear hug, but surprised nonetheless, as she felt him press into her.

"I don't know how you did it...but thank you." He whispered into her ear as a wet cheek slid against hers. He'd never met her before this day. He knew of her vaguely, since she was on Sasuke's team, but they had never crossed paths. Never had a reason to. None of that mattered now, though. He didn't care who she was. All he knew was that she had brought his best friend back from the dead, and he owed her everything for that.

Sakura gingerly looped her arms around his waist, searching for the appropriate words as she glanced down at the bed over his shoulder, and tried not to squeeze any of his injuries.

"I couldn't have done it if you hadn't brought him back..." She laughed softly, an attempt to lighten the mood somewhat and hopefully make him feel better. In response, his arms clung to her a little tighter, and she heard him sigh.

After a few seconds, he let her go, and took a step backwards. She was able to see him clearly then. Everything from the mild red tint to his eyes, the worn creases below them, and the damp shine on his composed, ghostly face. His hair was a little messy, but he was handsome enough even with the state he was in. Not quite as handsome as Itachi...though as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she felt an anxious flutter in her gut. Really, she shouldn't be thinking such things in the first place...especially not right now...

"At least we know we don't have to worry about Sasuke." Shisui smirked faintly, complimenting her indirectly as he turned to face the bed again. Not once had he bothered to wipe the tears off his face, as if he wasn't at all ashamed or embarrassed to reveal his emotions...though he did keep an air of dignity all the same. Sakura found herself admiring him for that.

But, Sasuke... She knew what he meant when he said that. Being on his team as a medic was a huge benefit. But she couldn't help to think how ironic that statement was. For her, he was the one thing she couldn't stop worrying about now. She kept those thoughts to herself, though. If Shisui didn't know anything that had gone on between her, Itachi, and Sasuke, she wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

"You should sit back down." She murmured abruptly, feeling she was finally able to speak her mind. He shot her a look from the corner of his mildly puffy eye, studying her.

"...Would it make you feel better?" His question held a tinge of mischief in it, contradicting the worn and emotionally drained look on his face.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it...then opened it again in a huff. "It's going to make _you_ feel better if you just settle down and rest." Arms crossing over her chest, she cocked her hip and leveled a gaze on him that promised she would physically make him sit in a few seconds if he didn't move his own butt himself. The more she observed him, the more and more it bothered her to watch him wander about and get up and down, and now that Fugaku's intimidating presence was gone, her disposition on the matter wasn't going to be ignored.

His response consisted of that same strange look peaking from the corner of his eye, and a smile slowly spreading on his lips. Another memory hit her, suddenly. One filled with colors of bright green, pink, blue and red. The vivid bouquet of an immaculately kept garden, dripping with raindrops into a glass pond alive with koi. She stood there just before the porch, in virtually the same position she was in now, battling through a barrage of anger and damaged pride.

The scene captured her briefly, just long enough to miss Shisui turn and drop himself carefully into the chair. He was still smiling lightly as he leaned back, eyes closing. "Medics..." He poked fun at her as he obliged in her request.

Sakura blinked, returning to reality and looking down at him curiously, before her brow furrowed. "Hey, medics are the only reason you're walking at all right now, buddy."

"I know... Believe me, Sakura. I don't undervalue your profession at all. I'm just teasing you." His eyes reopened a sliver, aimed at the bed across from him. Her's wandered from his face, down to the floor, and then over to the bed as well.

"Yeah... I'm sorry. I'm just...kinda tired." The tone of her voice melted into something less challenging as her arms slipped down to her sides. She crept closer to the bed, a tangle of funny emotions she couldn't quite pick apart buzzing through her mind as she watched the peaceful, sleeping face lying below. Her hands propped on the blanket next to Itachi as she contemplated, trying to figure out why these memories were finding her now...and why the littlest things were triggering them. So much time she had spent trying to wipe them into oblivion, for her own sake, and here they came rushing back in bits and pieces.

"How many times has something like this happened?"

"To him? Never."

Sakura said nothing at first, finding his answer difficult to believe as she glanced over the halo of black around his face, and the still, dark lashes of his closed lids. Faint puffs of steam pulsed against the oxygen max secured to his mouth as he breathed steadily. To her knowledge, Itachi had never been in the hospital before. She'd never seen him herself, and she'd never heard Sasuke mention anything. But still...

"Really? After the things he said to me, I kinda thought he would've had a near-death experience before." Attention fading, Sakura failed to notice the eyes settling on her back as she leaned forward and brushed away a strand of hair that was caught in his lashes. The eyes that considered her now with greater interest, though they were locked in a lazily narrowed gaze that would have deceived her of his new focus.

"What did he say?" Shisui noted the gradual change in her voice and the almost affectionate gesture she had given his friend, though he was nonchalant as he questioned her.

"Just that...well...he said something like how he was always living in the moment, and doing things without thinking too much, because life was so short and unpredictable. He never knew what was going to happen next, so he tried to appreciate everything and everyone while he had the chance." She couldn't quote him, as she didn't remember everything he'd said word for word, but she remembered enough. He had impacted her with that small speech, and it was something she always kept in the back of her mind now.

As she was secretly studied from behind, she straightened out the blankets covering Itachi, and sighed to herself. The precise events that caused him to believe what he believed, and do what he did, were unknown to her. Part of her wanted to understand what had brought him behave the way he did...but another part of her warned against it. They couldn't have been pleasant events, by any stretch of the imagination. Even so, she wished she knew more about him. Neither of her teammates thought the way he did. Not even Kakashi, who was a veteran by their standards.

"You guys are friends, huh?"

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at Shisui suddenly, somehow shocked by his question...though she quickly realized she was more shocked at herself for not knowing how to answer him.

"...Uhm... Well... No."

Shisui arched a brow at her.

"Well...yyyyyy—no. Not really. Kinda."

He stared.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" He would have cracked an amused smile if he weren't too busy trying to figure out why she was so confused. It was a simple enough question, wasn't it? How could she not even know if they were friends?

"If he said something like that to you...you're probably friends." Shisui insisted indifferently after a moment, though he was still choosing to mask the extent of his curiosity behind his bloodshot eyes. Something about her nagged at him...like there was something she was hiding from the world, and he wanted to find out what it was, because it was bound to be interesting.

"Really? What makes you think that?"

"Because I know him. We've had a similar conversation, actually. And he doesn't dive into a topic like that out of the blue, and with someone he isn't familiar with." His sleepy gaze met hers as she stared quietly at him, torn between surprise and nervousness. Somehow, she felt as if she had spoken more than she should have, and now she wasn't sure what to do. Was she just being paranoid? Hm...probably.

Eventually, she turned her head back around, if only to avoid the look he was giving her. There was nothing wrong with that look. All he was doing was half-laying in his chair, giving her his attention. And yet, somehow he had drilled into her with that same uneasy feeling she remembered getting whenever Itachi had looked at her. Like he could see right through her, regardless of what she said or did, down to her very soul. Was it an Uchiha thing? Did their kekkei genkai work in some creepy way even without their sharingan activated? It wasn't the first time this thought crossed her mind...

"Well...I guess we're...friends then." Admitting slowly, her hand lifted and clung to the small bag over her shoulder as she backed away from the bed. It was time to go.

"I'll leave you guys alone now... I have to get ready for my shift anyway." Sakura mumbled as she moved to retrieve the other bag she had left there before, and walked towards the door. A skeptical glance shot his way as her hand fell on the handle, and she found him staring at her still, a smile returning to his face. The creepy, knowing kind of smile. She huffed audibly, eyes narrowing as the door slid open. "Don't stay in here too long. You need your rest, remember..."

"Yes, ma'am." Shisui saluted her mockingly, a glint of teeth flashing her way in a grin, and she darted out of the room hurriedly with a snort. He would let her go, for now...but there was still something pulling at the back of his mind. So many little hints peppered into her actions and explanations, and even in the way she looked at him. Hopefully he would run into her again, and get another chance to pick at her brain discreetly enough that she wouldn't realize what he was doing. For now, he was just going to sit and reflect on the events that had lead him here, and try to get it through his skull that Itachi was actually alive...right in front of him...

* * *

"Sakura! You didn't punch in yet did you?" A voice called down the hall as one of the nurses came trotting up behind her. She turned on cue, clinging to the few shreds of patience she had left as she stared at the other girl in confusion. The door to the locker room was not ten paces behind her, and already she was being hounded. This was such a long day already, and she was starting to fear it would never be over.

"No...I was just on my way. Why?" She asked, biting back a sigh. In the very least, she could be grateful that she'd been able to change into her uniform in peace and quiet. Too bad that peace and quiet didn't last more than a few terribly short minutes.

"Good! Tsunade wants to see you." The girl stopped in the middle of the walkway, and almost looked to be a little winded. Had she been scouring the halls for her, or something? Geeze.

"Oh.. Uhhhh...alright. I'll head over" Sakura swallowed, her irritation and confusion replaced with concern at this news. Why in the world would Tsunade need to see her now? It couldn't wait until her shift was over? A hospital short-staffed with medics was never a good thing. A curt and grumpy, sleep-deprived medic was still better than no medic. But, who was she to question their Hokage...

The girl nodded, before turning back the way she came, leaving Sakura to stare down at the floor for a moment. Something about this made her uneasy, and she wasn't sure why. Was she in trouble? Or maybe she was being given a special mission. Those were always fun and challenging. She could only hope it was the latter.

She didn't bother changing out of her uniform before heading to the office, as she had literally just put the darn thing on. She'd be heading straight back to the hospital anyway, so what's the use? Her journey didn't take long, and soon enough she was being ushered into the room by Shizune, who greeted her with a somewhat apologetic smile. That did nothing to calm Sakura's suspicions, though maybe she was reading into it too much.

Sitting behind the grand desk with an array of papers and scrolls, her Hokage glanced up from a rather large book in front of her. An all-too-serious expression met Sakura's mildly timid one, though she was trying her hardest to appear calm. She noted the small white bottle with a tiny cup next to it, a thin waft of steam rising from the top. Sake? At this hour? The sun was still high in the sky!

"Sakura. Come in." Ordering bluntly, Tsunade returned to scan the page of her book as she stepped up to the desk and stood quietly. She couldn't help but to glance repeatedly at the bottle as she waited to be addressed. Was this some sort of foreshadowing for an unpleasant discussion in her near future? Dear Kami, she hoped not.

"Isn't it a little too early to be drinking?" A small voice peeped hesitantly, as if she half-expected an explosive reaction. Tsunade snapped her book closed immediately, causing Sakura to jump lightly and gaze down at her skeptically. "Sakura, it's _never_ too early for sake. You'll understand why, if you ever become a Hokage." The older woman muttered bitterly, peering at her rigid figure with a sharp eye.

"Heh...ok!" Sakura forced a smile quickly, and tried not to fidget. Tsunade gave her uniform a once-over, and then sighed heavily as she hunched forward and put her elbows on the desk, nearly knocking her own cup over with the generous swell of cleavage she was known for.

"I heard you had quite the eventful night. Care to explain what happened?" She began, cutting straight to the point.

Yep. This was exactly what she had been dreading, and there was absolutely no way to weasel out of this conversation. Sakura's shoulders slumped a little, resigning to her fate. This wasn't going to end well for her, she just knew it.

"Right... Well, uhm... Uchiha Itachi was admitted to the hospital at about midnight. I passed them in the hall when they were wheeling him to the ICU, and uh...when I recognized him, I ran after them to help."

"After you shift ended."

Sakura nodded.

"In the ICU."

Sakura nodded again.

"And what did you do in the ICU?"

She paused for a second, trying to get a feel as to what direction this interrogation was going to go. The stern gaze of her mentor wasn't something she could decipher. All she knew was that she felt a little uncomfortable at the tone of voice she was using.

"He was dead on arrival, so I attempted to revive him. He had extensive internal injuries, and the first thing I did was drain the blood from his lungs."

"You inserted catheters into his lungs."

Sakura nodded.

"Who was the senior medic?"

She was quiet for a moment, wracking her brain as she tried to remember everyone else that was in the room with her. Looking back now, so much of it was a blur.

"I...I don't know."

"But it wasn't you."

She nodded slowly, a touch of guilt hitting her gut.

"Did you bark orders at everyone, and refuse to listen to their instructions?"

For the first time, Sakura's eyes narrowed slightly, and the scrap of guilt she had felt expanded into indignation. A faint flush of red found her cheeks.

"Yes, I refused to listen to their instructions when they told me to give up. They stood there like there was nothing they could do, but there _was_. They just didn't believe it was possible to bring him back to life, because too much time had passed, so they quit trying." Her words were calmly spoken, yet the intensity of her expression wasn't something she tried to hide as her jaw clenched.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed right back at her, and she fired gruffly. "Sakura, you're not assigned to the ICU. You don't have clearance to insert _catheters_ into a man's _lungs _without guidance, whether that man is dead or alive. And above all, your job is to _take_ orders from your superiors, not _give_ them. You're not experienced enough, and your lack of training is apparent in your inability to keep your emotions under control when—"

"—He was DEAD!" Sakura nearly yelled. "He was dead and no one wanted to save him! They wanted to pull a sheet over his head and leave him to rot! _I saved his life! _I brought him back—"

"—_your inability to keep your emotions under control—" _Tsunade repeated herself with thick emphasis, only to be cut off again.

"—You would have done the same for Dan!" She snapped loudly.

The office fell quiet. Instantly, Sakura's eyes widened, and her heart thundered into a racing rhythm. She should not have said that... The boundary had been crossed the moment she had raised her voice, and she knew that, but she definitely should not have gone so far as to say _that_. She wanted to throw up. But all she could do in the aftermath of her outburst was stand there quietly, and let the heated color drain from her face.

Slowly, Tsunade straightened in her chair, elbows slipping off the table as she regarded Sakura in new-found awe, some of which was bad, and some of which was good. In the seconds that passed through the stifling silence, she realized that this was the first time her apprentice had ever talked back to her...and there was more than a little passion in her persistence. However, she had indeed stepped over a very fine and volatile line.

"Are you in love with him?" The question drifted curiously over to Sakura, who had been expecting a much different reaction, and was therefore blindsided for a moment. It hit her like a ton of bricks.

"No!" She blurted frantically, scrambling on the defense as her heart found a way to beat even faster. "I just—"

_WHAM!_

Sakura jumped and stared fearfully at the clenched fist that had slammed down onto the desk. Tsunade had lurched up from her chair faster than she could blink, sending it toppling on its side behind her. The Hokage was oblivious to the long crack that etched through the wood, trailing from her hand as she glared dangerously at the young girl.

_That_ was the reaction she had been expecting.

"Then don't you _dare_ compare him to Dan." She seethed in a low, menacing voice, and Sakura immediately looked down and took a step backwards, shying away from the piercing eyes of her mentor. Never had she seen such an intense expression before, as if she were ready to leap over or smash through the desk like it was a fragile tower of toothpicks and slap her through the very wall.

"I'm sorry... I... Forgive me. I shouldn't have said that. It was wrong." She bowed her head, a surge of guilt returning to swirl uneasily with the anger that still poisoned her judgment. Yet somehow, she managed to feel some of that guilt stemming from the answer she had given her, when she had said 'No!'...and _that_, made things so much more complex suddenly.

The room was quiet again for a time as Tsunade battled with her own wave of emotions, trying not to unleash them on Sakura, for surely the poor girl wouldn't survive if she did. Her amber eyes closed tightly, a scowl on her face as she breathed heavily.

"If you don't love him, then why _did_ you try to revive him for so long? You've never done that before." She asked with a forced calm, though refusing to sit back down in her chair just yet.

Sakura swallowed, keeping her head down in shame. "I would have done the same for Naruto or Sasuke..." She murmured gently. "I... I just... I guess I care about him, too." It was painful to admit, though she truly didn't know why, and she heard a sigh fall across from her.

Slowly, Tsunade fixed the chair upright and sat down. Her eyes reopened to stare at the head of pink that bowed in front of her. "You should feel proud, Sakura."

Curious green eyes glanced up warily, as though she didn't quite understand what she had said. Proud? Really? If she should feel proud, why was she getting reprimanded like this? Now she was really lost.

"You revived a corpse deprived of oxygen for over ten minutes, and he's no even in a coma. Very few medics have ever pulled that off."

Sakura blinked, but remained speechless as she listened and tried to digest the sudden change in atmosphere.

"...But if you ever step out of line at the hospital like that again, and if you ever speak to me the way you did just now, you will be cleaning bedpans for a year, if I'm feeling generous...do you understand?"

Sakura nodded slowly and straightened herself, though she trained her eyes aimed down at the desk between them.

"Go home."

Startled, she looked up questioningly. "Go...home? But, I have a shift at the hospital until nine!"

"Your shift has been covered. Take the day off and get some rest."

"Oh... Ok." For some reason, she was in utter shock. Turning on her heels, she moved for the door without sound, stopping only when she heard her name called behind her.

"Sakura..."

She glanced over her shoulder.

"You _should _feel proud." Tsunade was still staring at her intently, sending her overworked brain into a tumble as she tried to figure out how she could be made to feel like crap one minute, and then receive a verbal pat on the back the next. She wasn't going to stir the pot though. She'd done that enough already. With one last nod, Sakura made her exit quietly, hiding a small smile as she turned and slipped out the door.

As she wandered down the hall, lost in thought with that quirky smile lingering, she almost missed the man that passed, heading in the opposite direction. Looking up at the last second, she nearly tripped over her own feet when Fugaku nodded in wordless greeting at her, before slipping by and entering the door to the office she had just left. Sakura turned around and stared in wonder. What in the world was he doing here? Had he been summoned as well, or was something else going on?

The empty hall wasn't about to answer her, though. Eventually, she turned again and began her slow journey home. Once she dropped by the hospital to pick up her bags, she would be able to dive into her bed...and that's really all she was capable of focusing on anymore. Sleep. Just beautiful, revitalizing, desperately needed sleep. Any chaos or drama that lurked in her future would have to wait until she was caught up on zzz's.

* * *

_**A/N:** I promise Itachi will make an appearance soon. Er...a lively Itachi, anyway. Then we can frolic in some _real_ shenanigans. X)_

_...It took me way too many tries to type out the correct spelling of shenanigans...I'm going to go faceplant into my bed now._


End file.
